Obligatory Heroics
by Encendrel
Summary: It was the time of Kamijou Touma's first high school days when a certain Russian church operative had dropped in on him and tried to kill him. For him, it started the breaking of a grand illusion. For everyone else? Well...
1. Retaliation is a Universal Language

**You guys best appreciate how hard it was to come up with a summary for this.**

**I don't own To Aru Majutsu no Index.**

* * *

"Hm, I generally wouldn't put any stock into a rumor like this... But the evidence all checks out."

Files on a 'Plague God of Misfortune.' Apparently, people who came in contact with him (with exceptions to his family) befell terrible fates. One man reported to having lost his family after bumping into the boy on a sidewalk. Another reported his business failing within a day of speaking to the subject.

This had occurred hundreds of times, consistent in a way that showed more than 'just possible' causality.

It was marking up to look like something of a demon possession. Vasilisa yawned as she placed papers into a folder. "Even so, why is this information coming so late? It's the Annihilatus' job to destroy supernatural beings, but this is over seven years old..."

She blinked. It was getting late, so it was time to come to a conclusion.

"Well, there's no time like the present. Oh, Sasha~" A grin grew on her face as she headed for another section of the Phenomena Control and Reduction Reproduction facility. "I have something for you to do."

* * *

He supposed that when things like this happened, there was nothing to do but go home and sleep it off.

He supposed that he shouldn't have felt so disappointed seeing as it had happened so many times already, but every time his bank card was eaten by the ATM he felt like a little piece of his heart was chipped off and tossed into a great demonic fire.

"Haah... What rotten luck."

There went his next lunch.

Possibly dinner too, if he couldn't resolve the issue in the next few hours. He leaned on the ATM in despair, staring at the taunting 'ERROR' message.

...Which, by the way, he couldn't , seeing as he would probably be on hold for the next few hours if he called right after a great misfortune.

With this thought in mind, he prepared to desperately beg Aogami for food... or something. At the very least, he didn't want to turn to Tsuchimikado, because though the Siscon Sergeant's sister was a great cook, he didn't want to deal with being poisoned in the morning 'for interrupting Motoharu's sister-love time'.

"My first inquiry: Is your name Kamijou Touma?" He turned his head, his body still leaning on the machine. The voice had a heavy accent, heavier thicker than that of an English speaker.

Some petite blonde girl with a red nun-like hood and an obscene clothes that looked like something out of Aogami's DVDs was beside him. Her hair hung over her eyes so that they couldn't be seen.

He narrowed his eyes. Generally, he would say that this person screamed of danger. Why this was, he had no idea. It wasn't as if her stature was enough to take him down in a fight but he knew better than to assume that she would come at him like some sort of brawler.

She didn't seem like an 'esper', though. This was noted on the side, far detached from his regular line of thought.

However, in a split second, he dropped his wariness (despite his quick wits, he was too tired to care about these things) and rather foolishly said, "Yes, it is. Why?"

It would probably have been better if he'd just ignored her at that point in time and left. Continued with his average high school days. However, this somehow groundbreaking answer had already been spoken.

"My first answer: The Annihilatus' main purpose is to destroy things that should not exist in this world. An elaboration: Prepare to be eliminated."

"Wait, wha-!"

Touma scrambled backwards, the girl having pulled out a menacing saw. It reminded him of a torture tool...

"IT IS A TORTURE TOOL! WHAT THE HELL IS SOME LOLI DOING CARRYING A SAW AROUND!?"

This was rather rude of him. However, you became blase about social niceties when you'd gone through enough misery. It seemed, however, to get some kind of indignant reaction and a lightning quick overhead swing almost hit him. His brawler instinct barely saved him. It had eventually paid off to be targeted by so many people, it seems.

Naturally, he shook himself from this line of thought when he saw that the girl's miss had impacted the street... and the one that came out cracked was the street.

He widened his eyes. Hopefully, he could end this quickly and not come out worse for it. Seeing as the girl's movements weren't particularly swift, it was probably the saw that was causing the issue.

It wasn't time to chatter anymore. This was one of very, very few life-and-death scenarios that he was more likely to die than survive.

She was coming in for another swing, this time sideways. Of course, there was nothing to do but back up or duck when a sideways blow could occur. Not wanting to risk decapitation, Touma chose the second.

He was seriously sweating now. Despite not actually using that much physical energy, his heart was beating wildly and his palms were practically soaked. He must have given the impression of a wild animal, but he attempted to calm down anyways.

He then noticed the girl pulling out another item.

"...Seriously? A crowbar?"

At this point, he knew that there was no choice but to go on the offensive. He would get nowhere fast trying to tire out the killer loli and every second was a moment where he could get a limb sliced off... or some other terrible fate.

In fact, it was more surprising that no one had tried to stop them yet. Perhaps it was the bystander effect...

Oh, wait. It was a Sunday and he was in the school district.

Such misfortune indeed.

At this point, he leaned away from a crowbar strike, finally advancing forward. She attempted to hit him with the saw again, but he ducked this time and felt some of his hair get cut off.

"Ah, jeez! This is too unlucky! I'm ending this now!"

He grabbed the crowbar so that she couldn't attack him with it, and the saw hand was currently still trying to rewind from the last strike.

And the crowbar... shattered?

He blinked.

The girl blinked... as far as he could tell. In fact, she seemed so shocked that her bangs weren't covering her eyes, which were somewhere between gold and amber.

He punched her in the face.

...So there he was, with an unconscious girl, in the middle of a school district.

"...What do I do now?"

* * *

**So, this is the last new story idea for April. Like it?**

**Leave a review, then.**


	2. Please, Save Before Critical Decisions

**Ugh, I use such crass language in my author's notes and it doesn't occur to me until I read it much later.**

**I don't own To Aru Majutsu no Index.**

* * *

"M-my first inquiry: Are you planning to-" She stopped, face seeming to turn a little red. However, it was mainly hidden by her hair so the spiky-haired boy did not pay any attention.

Touma stared at the red-clothed girl quizzically. She seemed to shrink under his gaze for some reason...

Then, it clicked.

"W-Wait! Do I really look like that kind of person to you?!" Touma asked vehemently.

"My first explanation: You knocked me out and dragged me to an indeterminable location. Motivations unknown."

He twitched. "Oi, oi. Do you think I'm some kind of dirtbag that just leaves people on the ground unconscious? It could have been worse."

The point was conceded. However, he was still regarded with a wary stare that he (in his own opinion) had done nothing to deserve.

He sighed and turned on the stove, before remembering that he had to skip lunch. Sighing, he flicked the gas burner off.

"So, why are you trying to kill me?" He asked, kind of conversationally. He was kind of worried about going to Aogami's apartment for dinner with some girl in his house.

(Why did Aogami have an apartment again?)

"My first answer: My organization exists to destroy existences that do not belong in this world."

"..." He stared at her. Was he being considered a non-human? Seriously?

"My first supplement: The mana of living things does not pass through your body. Theref-"

"Wait wait wait! You can't just throw out some foreign terms and expect me to understand it! Start from the beginning!" He waved his hands in exasperation.

She seemed to glance in his direction with something that looked like it could have been an expression of annoyance. However, it seriously fell flat.

"My first rebuttal: Explaining terms to someone who doesn't understand them is pointless. An elaboration: It's far too late to start from the basics."

He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Really, now...?" Though, to be honest he didn't really care for hearing some long winded explanation. He sat down at the other end of his glass table.

"My second supplement: Various factors lead Annihilatus to believe you are possessed by a demon."

"Oi, demons don't exist. They can't be-"

"My second rebuttal: It would be natural for a demon to attempt to prolong its own existence."

He felt like he was arguing with an elementary schooler, but perhaps it was just him. He didn't want to go into an exposition phase, so it was better to simply avoid asking for explanations. As far as he was concerned, he would make the girl go away and that would be the end of it.

With any luck.

With that thought in mind, he wondered how many days this person would end up staying here for. Komoe-sensei seemed to have a habit of helping students back on their feet and housing them, but people just seemed to crash right into Touma and proceed to freeload.

"...My first conclusion: Kamijou Touma shows no signs of a demonic possession. For future reference, remember that the subject is highly irritable and has an inflexible mind."

He stared at the girl in front of him incredulously. All of *that* for her to come to this conclusion?

"...Fine, fine. Whatever. What's your name?"

"My first answer: Sasha Kreutzev of the Russian Orthodox Church."

He sighed. "Well, Kreutzev-san, when will you be leaving Academy City?"

The Russian turned her head to the side and muttered something like 'Vasilisa' and 'ridiculous plans', but eventually turned back and said, "My second answer: In about three weeks."

"..." This really was too much. He turned to the left and to the right as if some portal could come and help him escape this hell, but there was virtually zero chance of that. "And what were you planning to do if you succeeded in killing me?"

"My third answer: I would remain in custody until I was bailed out by Annihilatus. An elaboration: Foreigners possess a certain diplomatic immunity that would keep me safe from punishment."

There was something that was probably an expression of distaste on her face, and Touma wondered how alien the Russian thought process must be.

"Then it really can't be helped, huh..." He wished he was mean enough to kick someone into the streets, but he really wasn't.

"For the next few weeks, you can stay with me.

* * *

Not quite aware of the pit of snakes he'd managed to jump into, he walked to Aogami's place. The blue haired nameless bastard always had extra food and money despite being a level 0 like himself.

He really wished that he could have just left that Sasha person alone, but possibly homicidal 13 year olds (estimated) weren't the kind of people you just dumped on the street.

(I suppose I'd better get extra, then...)

He headed to the 'residential area' if you said Academy City had one. It was just a lot of apartments, Touma doubting that there were any houses withing a mile of District 7.

He walked towards a surprisingly nice looking apartment and knocked. If Aogami wasn't around, he was just out of luck.

A the door opened and Touma saw what must have been the dark abyss of hell, he remembered that he was still probably out of luck.

"Yo, Kami-yan, need something?" Touma felt as if there should have been some kind of inquisitive stare, but the guy just didn't open his eyes.

Touma raised his head to the sky and gave a silent prayer to whichever god he pissed off by existing.

"I, uh, my bank card was broken. I don't have dinner." He muttered a 'such misfortune' under his breath for good measure.

Aogami raised an eyebrow, then snapped his fingers. "Ah, I see. Come inside."

The inside of the entry room was surprisingly uncluttered, and an astonishing amount of posters and stacked videogames decorated the room.

_...Wait, that's not astonishing at all._

Getting put on a strange train of thought again, he followed the ear-pierced classmate.

After the first, dark room, it was a clean room with an almost medical feeling. A single glass dining table was in the middle of the room. There was a counter, and behind that was a kitchen. A few windows could have shown the scientific city, but they were only open enough to let in light.

"Ah, well I don't have any spare food, but I'll give you all of these groceries if you cook something right now."

He gestured to... _how many bags was that?_ on the floor that were obviously stocked with groceries. But it seemed kind of like a discrepancy, because-

"...You always eat out. Why the hell do you have groceries?" Touma said in deadpan. Aogami smirked.

"Well, I had a feeling that a certain comrade of mine was in trouble, so I figured I might get something good out of helping."

Touma blinked. It was a fucking _consipracy._ He moved towards the groceries, carefully. One wrong move and he could get stuck on the Aogami route for all eternity.

"Such misfortune..." He sorted through the groceries and picked up a few things.

He grabbed a knife from the rack and began to mince garlic. If he had a lot of ingredients and he was forced to do it anyways, he'd just make fried rice or something easy.

Aogami opened a door that was shining with a bright light and Touma could hear a vaguely electronic sound from the inside.

"How does he have all this stuff if he just plays games all day?" He mused to himself while chopping carrots. He put oil into a large pan and put in some chicken to cook. He put rice into a rice cooker. It was generally effortless stuff, and it could be made in large quantities.

Taking out the cooked chicken, he wondered what Sasha was doing in his dorm room.

* * *

Sasha stared at the wall.

"..."

Well, it wasn't as if she always did things this boring. But she was normally occupied and the mission was nothing to worry about at this point and it wasn't as if a boys dorm room was anything really exciting.

A lot of people would disagree with her there.

* * *

"Oi, it's done." He twitched a little as he found himself glancing at a definitely R-18 scene of... Wow, Aogami really _was_ a man of every fetish.

The blue haired guy turned around for a second, eyes still looking closed.

"Alright, then. Leave it on the table and everything else is yours, Kami-yan."

He had already boxed some for himself and his guest, and that was only 9 some bags so he figured he could make it back.

He shrugged and counted his blessings.

Then he remembered he had no blessings.

Sobbing internally for a whole half-second, he left the house. Looking at the road, he began his trudge back.

"You stop doing exciting things for two years, and you already have an old man hunch? I expected more, Kamijou."

Touma stared down lazily, eyes marking on a white beetle on his shoe. "And you, Kakine? Still terrorizing others in hopes of surpassing the Number One?"

The beetle paused for a second, then spread its wings. It flew up to face Touma, which was really kind of creepy in his opinion. "Terrorizing? I have standards, I'll have you know."

Touma rolled his eyes. "Standards I had to beat into you, remember? Besides, why are you here?"

The beetle landed on Touma's right shoulder, where the deadly hand was occupied by bags. Smart guy. Touma attempted to brush him off with his left, which only had the boxed fried rice, but it was too nimble.

"I found out some... _interesting things._ It seems the man up there expects something set in motion in a few months or so. Well, I couldn't say myself, just based on that 'Radio Noise' project."

Touma sighed, seeing his dorm nearing. "But why are you telling _me_? You know I'm not that great at this cloak and dagger work."

"Ah, don't be an idiot, Kamijou. Don't you realize you're always at the center of some mess? Whether you created it or not, I mean."

After this, the white beetle flew off. Kamijou briefly mused as to how it was talking to him with what must be some sorry excuse for vocal cords, but honestly it wasn't worth questioning.

"Well, I've still got places to be."

* * *

Sasha ate slowly and carefully. Touma wasn't sure if she thought he poisoned it or if she was just enjoying the meal. He ate at the same pace, as the dinner table was a sacred area where misfortune wouldn't befall him.

Even the Fates enjoyed a good meal before pulling him around some more.

"My first statement: Thank you for the meal."

He blinked, and stared at her bowl. Sure enough, it was empty. "Ah, it was no problem..." He trailed off. "Oh, by the way, I offered to let you stay, but where are you going to sleep? There's only one futon."

"My first answer: The floor."

Her speech pattern seemed a little silly to him when the add-on took longer to say than the actual response.

But he was busy being thankful that it wasn't anything typical like (obviously, you have to give me the bed) or anything. He shifted, though. Sasha saw this and raise a silent eyebrow.

He gave a pained grimace and looked at something that wasn't the Russian operative. "Sorry, it's just that..."

She stared at him expectantly. "You know, when boys and girls..." But it really wasn't that. Had almost nothing to do with that.

"Look, the way you dress makes you look like a dangerous person to sleep next to." And it was. It wasn't _real_ clothing, he was willing to bet they both realized that!

Also, the nightmarish feeling when Tsuchimikado would eventually bust in for no reason and appraise the way she dressed... as well as how close Touma was to becoming a sexual deviant.

"M-my first explanation: My superior forced me to wear this."

And then, while Touma was busy being stunned by the answer:

"My first supplement: Are you..."

"Agh, please don't finish that sentence!" He nearly yelled. Then he sighed. "Do you want to borrow my clothes, or something...?" That certainly didn't look very comfortable. "If it really comes down to it, we can go buy clothes tomorrow."

Sasha stared at him with something that seemed like tears of happiness, or maybe hope.

"Oi, oi, why are you glancing at me like some kind of savior!?"

* * *

**Sasha is the most fun character to write. I kinda actually like her dialogue style more than Last Order or the Sisters/shot**

**Eh, the romance tag? Why did I put that there again...?**

**Ah, maybe I implied too much in the summary? Well, Kamachi calls it A Certain Magical Index and Index isn't a love interest at all, so it should be fine.**


	3. Ostensible Chance Encounters

**Chapter 3. Thanks to xMikaelx for beta work.**

**I don't own TAMnI.**

* * *

For the record, Touma had simply been accepting everything the girl said as fact. There was no reason to disbelieve her, after all, what with the pavement-shattering crowbar and all that.

The entire ordeal had been surprisingly uneventful considering how much room there was for serious misunderstandings. Sasha wore one of his old white shirts and black pants, though still wore the belts (looser now, letting Touma's empathetic side sigh with relief) because apparently she was somehow able to keep her weapons on them. Somehow. Is this what they mean by 'hammer space?'

Anyways. "So, what's this about the 'destruction of things that don't belong in this world?'"

They were walking on the street towards Seventh Mist, where they would hopefully buy clothes that would actually fit his temporary housemate. He wasn't saying anything anything about the temporary set because it was still better than the bondage-like clothing she'd attacked him in, but some of the assumptions people could make were seriously bad.

"My first answer: Certain objects and creatures create disturbance in Telesma, or the natural flow of the world. Our primary goal is to destroy disturbances."

He raised an eyebrow. "What so things like tsukumogami or vampires? Well, there's no way for a tsukumogami to be born in this city*."

"My first supplement: Yes, though generally creatures like those can go unnoticed. It's more important to stop things like Angels from destroying the Earth."

Touma blinked. "Ah." He held out his right hand. "Is Telesma kind of like magic, then?"

She blinked, then nodded. It wasn't the true form, but it'd do.

"Since I was born, this right hand of mine has been able to destroy the supernatural." He sighed. "Well, it isn't as if it did me any good."

Sasha tilted her head. Well, if it was like that, she could understand why her superiors would think he was demon possessed. But, it wasn't a big deal if it was just this.

"Haah... Such misfortune. Well, here we are."

He really didn't think much of Seventh Mist, but the one next to him was definitely impressed, so perhaps he was simply too used to this kind of place.

"I'll guide you around if you like, but please don't pick something super expensive or..."

Immodest, he was going to say, but he felt the foreign girl understood. No more rubbing salt in the wounds in any case.

"Well, let's go."

* * *

Despite that, Touma ended up handing her a wad of cash (in the spirit of it not burning up in his hands somehow) and managing to lose her within the span of visiting two stores.

...Not that it was a serious problem, in his opinion. Rather, it was better this way because this way the money would'nt get destroyed on the way to the destination and nobody could get the wrong idea about them if they weren't near each other.

But on another note, it wasn't as though he could do much in a mall. He couldn't afford to buy extra clothes nor could he afford to splurge on food, so what was a guy to do? Sure, he aimlessly walked into a few stores and loitered about, but he imagined that it would take longer when one had the intention of actually wearing things out.

"Hey, could you help me out?"

A professional-sounding voice, like that of a businessman or researcher, made Touma's head turn.

The figure was seriously indistinct as far as he could tell, not in a 'generic sense' but more like a rugged gang member or dealer with a faceless attribute. He dressed like a gang member, too. Despite being mostly obscured, shining pink eyes could be discerned.

Though not in the way a certain level 5 had starry eyes, or like heat vision, it was like a cat's eyes when caught in the dark.

Touma could tell one thing though:

Talking to this guy would be trouble.

In an RPG, there's always that one shady person or outstanding character who tends to be plot important, having you eliminate noise or other inane yet relevant reason.

Touma's life goal was to avoid people like this. But since inviting Sasha in he might have been too far gone.

"Hey mister, are you gonna keep ignoring me?" Ah, there was also that. Despite the professional intonation and all, it sounded quite a bit like the other person had learned Japanese as a kid and never updated his language parameter.

Touma slapped on a plastic grin and made a sharp 70 degree swivel to match the angle of his head to his body. "No, no. I wouldn't even think about doing something like that. What do you need?"

The guy slipped off his hood, revealing sharp features and a smug smile. Probably between 20 and 30, he had well-kept black hair (also like a typical businessman's) and a sharp jaw.

"Thanks. Umm, do you know where this 'District 7' is?" After this was some mumbling in another language… Spanish, or something? It wasn't English or an Asian language, for sure.

If he did know what that language was, he would have heard something along the lines of 'smug upside-down bastard giving me shit instructions' but he didn't know things like this. Also, the smile was still kept so he wouldn't understand the general tone of the mumbling.

"Oh, you're right in it. Do you need to find a particular place, or…?"

"…Nah, I'll be fine from here." Though there was quite a look of dismay after getting his answer, so it seemed like he was still in trouble!? Well, he was willing to take the words at face value if it meant staying in a simple situation.

"Well, I'd better go then. Take care…?" Touma prompted for a name.

"Yeah, sure. Seeya."…. and was promptly shut down. Or maybe the guy didn't understand his language clues? Western languages seemed to have different word order so maybe he didn't understand the gap?

But the guy was already gone so it would have to be left alone. Forever, hopefully. He moved to find Sasha.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for him to regroup with his freeloader… or was she? From the way she passed him his money back it seemed like she didn't actually need money!? Then why did she take it in the first place!?

She wore a loose red shirt and jeans, and carried a bag with at least 2 sets of spares as well as his temporary loan-out. Overall it was as if some great burden had been lifted off her shoulder, but he couldn't really tell with the general emotionless expression and all.

It was still a lazy Sunday. Despite all the events that occurred within the span of one weekend, it couldn't be later than 4PM that day. What to do, what to do…

Facing the ennui problem of all highschool kids, he eventually gave up and read manga all day, passing his old issues in his roommate's direction without caring if she read them or not.

Truly, he lived a blessed life.

Blessed by misfortune, though.

* * *

For the average person, school was a routine, without much new happening every day. Touma liked to think he was one of those people.

...If what these idiots were talking about was considered normal, he fit the part perfectly… ish. For example, he always had to fight not to twitch when he saw a pure white insect in the corner of his vision, or something like that.

If he was completely honest, he was more worried about how Sasha passed the time. Or did she really just sit in that room all day?

"Okay, class. We're going over flight mechanics today, and after that we'll move back to esper theory."

Everyone groaned. Regular sciences were exceedingly easy, but to master esper theory required one to be an esper.

He looked out the window and sighed.

Shortly after, break started.

It was but his first year of high school, so he wasn't really well acquainted with all that many people. He'd been in the same class as that weirdo (Aogami) since middle school, but he was still somewhat in unfamiliar lands.

"And that's why bunny girls are infinitely better than nurses!" The freak emphasized. A blonde with sunglasses and an unbuttoned green Hawaiian shirt - and wasn't that a dress code violation - narrowed his eyes.

"Oi. That's totally wrong! Bunny girls have no appeal in their actions! Where a nurse will take care of you all a bunny girl can do is act cute! They may look good but they're far too 2D!"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH 2D, HUH!?"

The conversation just kept getting stranger.

"Oi, Touma! You agree with me, don't you?"

Being dragged into their conversation, he twitched. "Oi, you do realize you'll never meet a bunny girl in the real world, right? And - Tsuchimikado, was it? - As someone who frequents the hospital, let me be the first to tell you that real nurses don't have the appeal you're thinking of."

In but a few seconds, he managed to stomp on both of their opinions.

"...You're lucky I'm a siscon, or I would really beat you for that."

"KAMI-YAAAAN! PREPARE TO FACE JUSTICE!"

Touma ducked and rolled out of his seat, barely avoiding the right hook sent his way. When did he stand up in the first place!?

Unfortunately, he miscalculated his roll and crashed into the chair the blonde sat in.

Aogami, also miscalculating, punched Tsuchimikado in the face in the process.

"Huhu… HAHAHA!" Tsuchimikado set his sunglasses on the desk and stood up. "Let me show you the true power of a Siscon Sargeant!"

"Hah, of course someone who can't even appreciate bunny girls would be into something as broad and general as imoutos!" Aogami taunted.

Touma jumped up, joining the fray once more.

What a great year it was looking to be.

* * *

Sasha was faring but a little better. In the first place, she assumed that sitting around in Touma's dorm while school was in session would mean that no one would bother her.

She was totally wrong about that one. A small rhinoceros beetle of pure white had crawled into her line of vision… before turning into a human, or something like a human. It was a pure white creature in a suite, with a collared shirt underneath it, which were both unbuttoned revealing a white shirt underneath that one.

...Perhaps the boy had never figured out what overdressing meant? Then again, she had gone for quite a while without clothing that normal people wore.

He then said something like "Hey, there's something weird you should check out."

"My first inquiry: Who are you?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "I'm someone who watches over Kamijou Touma." he pursed is lips. He wasn't sure either what his childhood with the misfortune magnet chalked up to either. Were they friends? Acquaintances? The only thing he was absolutely certain of is that he made Touma's business his and vice versa.

The Russian put him under a scrutinizing stare, to which she only got a blank look.

"You aren't from this city, and don't emit AIM, but you definitely have some sort of power. I found something… like you, I suppose?" He shrugged casually. "Well, meet me outside."

She walked through the streets alongside the brown-haired boy who had been pure white just moments earlier… were they even the same person?

"Hey, calm down, would you? I'm just trying to figure something out." He shrugged. He wore a gaudy maroon suit and black pants, though she had noticed some white creatures that gave off the same feeling as him.

"My first inquiry: What do you intend to look for?"

Look for was right. And honestly, he had only a vague idea. "You know, I barely know myself. But," He walked around a corner to a building. Sasha could see a tiny inscription reading Clone Dolly Workshop- though it was crossed out. "It's different from anything I've seen from this City of Science, and I have eyes everywhere." He projected a white… thing onto his arm and rammed the door open.

Sasha swept her eyes across the interior. Countless tools, all of them seeming more complex than any modern marvel she'd seen before. But, it was definitely empty.

"Ah, don't bother looking around. Everything worth seeing has been moved over to the Exterior site already." He shrugged, entering the building.

It wasn't silent, with beeps of machinery still bringing life to the environment. Walking through corridor after corridor, a white insect flew towards the boy, who nodded and looked through a steel door with a small glass window.

"Oh, before we proceed: My name is Kakine Teitoku. Yours?"

"My first answer: Sasha Kreutzev."

And he busted the door open, revealing the anomaly he'd found earlier. Glass tanks lined the edges, all of them now empty, but one of them was shattered. Kakine absently picked up a paper, but tossed it back down after reading the phrase "Radio Noise".

"Anything familiar?"

She only nodded.

* * *

***For a tsukumogami to appear, a tool has to exist for at least 100 years, at which it will become sentient, or something like that.**

**Are...Are my chapter titles too confusing?**


	4. Human Network Schematic

**Chapter 4. ****Again, thanks for beta...ing? xMikaelx.**

**I keep pushing pivotal events to the next chapter... By the way, I'm still working on that word count.**

**I don't own TAMnI.**

* * *

"Um, are you okay?" Touma nervously rubbed his head as he offered his hand to a middle-school looking girl with brown hair like cotton candy. She'd just been staring out at the riverbank on the ground... which seemed rather uncomfortable.

"Hey, do you know there's a limit on the resources that can be used to teach and train espers?" She asked rather blankly. He couldn't get a read on her, but felt like this was a good thing.

"Eh?" Of course he knew. An unforgettable experience in the distant past made sure of that. On the other hand, he wasn't sure why this girl wanted to know about it over as she stood up again. Though, she pulled herself up seconds later so maybe she just didn't want help getting up.

"No, never mind. It's not a big deal."

Well, when someone talked about one of the big secrets of Academy City, it was never nothing. Of the 5 known, artificially produced Level 5s, only 2 had started off plainly at that level.

The rest - even if they weren't completely aware - were picked out of a supercomputer as the ones most useful to Academy City.

"W-wait, slow down. Why do you want to know about that?"

The reason he knew about it was...

She heaved a heavy sigh and turned to him. "Do you really want to listen to a depressing story like mine?" He didn't, really, but there was always some major cost involved with these things. He'd been witness to one of the greatest examples.

A childhood acquaintance, and the most ambitious boy he'd ever known.

* * *

...So, this is the 'Overload', huh?

A black-haired girl stood under a lamppost, arms crossed as if waiting for something.

The level 4 who could constantly generate odd energy that didn't identify with anything in this world.

And the one chosen above Teitoku to ascend to the top.

Well, according to the papers, Dark Matter had more application and use, but the Overload's ability to generate power simply had much more potential. The scientists hypothesized that they could still utilize Teitoku as a level 4, and the research could be conducted anyways. With the current resources (as in the ones needed to develop powers like this Overload or Dark Matter) as they were, it was best to only pick one and wait until later to develop the other.

To the misfortune of many people, Teitoku simply did not feel the same way. Whoever said being young and ambitious was a good thing should jump off a bridge.

Kamijou Touma sighed.

Helping out old acquaintances was tough.

"Ah? Who are you?" Suzuki Sekana raised an eyebrow.

She wasn't that outstanding of a person from an objective standpoint. But just from the threatening posture she had, he felt that he couldn't win with just Imagine breaker.

"...Do you know who Dark Matter is?" This got some reaction out of the girl, but she didn't move more than an inch.

"What about that guy?"

Touma just shrugged. "I don't know, just that he needs to talk to you." She grinned at this.

"And you're going to... make me go there?"

He gulped. "N-no, I was just offeri- WHA!" He suddenly shouted as a blue wave rippled through the air.

He would have started on his tsukkomi routine, but both sides froze when he swung his hand through the blue ripple and it disappeared.

"That's... interesting." She smiled, invitingly, but her words were like poison. "I have quite a few questions to ask you. So, let's start an experiment, shall we?"

As the air began to shimmer more and more with nearly tangible energy, he felt like he was going to cry.

* * *

What a terrible experience. After that talk with Teitoku, Suzuki Sekana had walked into a facility and openly declared that she was no longer participating in any studies.

He often wondered exactly what Teitoku said, but it might have been better not to know.

"It's really not worth chasing after, if you ask me." Touma offered as he sat down to listen. "A story of those tossed aside, huh?"

* * *

The two had met in the same town.

For the record, the first time Kamijou Touma had met Kakine Teitoku, neither of them had been known for their relation to ESPer powers.

"What's your name?"

A six-year old boy walks up to another. The first one has brown hair and a rather cruel, calculating gaze. An ever present cocky smile adorns his face.

The second flicks a nonchalant sideways stare at him.

"What do you care?"

The second boy is a black-haired, spiky-headed kid with dull blue eyes. He's sitting down at a classroom, hours after the last class ended.

"Oh, I'm just curious. I wasn't expecting another person still waiting for their ride."

The boy looks away from him though.

"I walk home. Besides, are you sure you want to keep talking to me?" He finally turns to the brown-haired boy, who is shocked at the sheer maturity of his expression. He'd never seen an expression that old or tired on anyone, not even his grandparents.

He stays silent. He's never met- no, never seen this kid. What could be so bad about him?

"Why shouldn't I talk to you? Also, if you walk home, why are you still here?"

The brash child pelted the mellow one with questions.

"Why shouldn't you talk to me?" The spiky haired boy let out a harsh, sardonic laugh. "You'll catch my misfortune, of course."

"That's stupid. I don't believe in fortune."

"Oh, you don't...? Either way, I'm warning you now not to stick around me."

Unfortunately, the spiky-haired boy hadn't understood at the time that the other boy would take that as a challenge.

It was just another thing on the pile of misfortunes he'd come across.

"Anyways, my name's Kakine Teitoku!" He grinned all proud of himself. The other boy raised an eyebrow, then sighed.

"Kamijou Touma."

They sat in silence for a while, before a voice came by.

"Teitoku!"

"Coming, 'kaa-san!"

He looked over to Touma.

The boy hadn't gotten up.

How long did he intend to stay there?

* * *

"Teitoku, don't hang around that boy."

His mother warned him in the car.

"Why not, 'kaa-san?"

"He's not human. He's a devil incarnated to spread misfortune to us."

"That's stupid. Nothing's happened to me, yet."

"Teitoku. It's better to be safe rather than sorry."

* * *

Despite all the warnings, Teitoku still went out of his way to meet the spiky-haired boy.

This was for no other reason than to prove a point. If he hadn't received those warnings, his interest would have died out.

It was rather... unfortunate that his childish mind wouldn't do so anymore.

"Why do you stay after school so long?"

Teitoku's parents had work to do, so he had no choice but to stay, as his home was quite far from the school.

"If I stay there too long, my parents will be hated by everyone else."

This altruistic cause sounded very foolish to Teitoku.

He said as much.

Touma eyed him critically.

"You're the kind of kid who gets whatever they want at any cost, aren't you? Even if people don't tell you about their problems, the problems still exist."

"..."

* * *

However, soon after their first meeting, Kamijou Touma had disappeared. 'Gone to Academy City', apparently.

Incidentally, his luck seemed to be getting worse.

He wasn't normally a superstitious person, but it seemed to be spreading.

'Plague God of Misfortune'... He'd begun to understand that a little better.

* * *

Not long afterwards, his grandparents died. This was to be expected, as they were easily in their 90s.

He hadn't really known them very well, so the blow didn't hurt.

But then his mother died.

'In a car crash', but the circumstances were so abnormal. An iron pole had fell from a construction project and thrown off traffic, causing a car to veer into the side of his mother's.

That being said, he was left only with his father.

Or that was what he thought, before he'd come home and found the man at the bottom of the stairs, apparently having tripped, resulting in a snapped neck.

He'd held no doubt now.

This was that boy's fault.

He'd go to Academy City as a Child Error. When he met the boy, he would exact his revenge.

The irrationality of the thought hadn't occurred to him at this point.

He had nothing left, so why not?

* * *

'Dark Matter.'

A level 3 ability that created an unknown matter that didn't exist within this world.

However, he'd yet to find the spiky haired boy that was the cause of his misfortune.

"Okay, Kakine-kun. The tests are finished today."

He sighed and walked away from the research area.

When he reached the streets, a head of spiky hair caught his eyes.

He'd waited a long time for this.

* * *

Touma cursed his misfortune silently while he found himself being slammed into the wall, holding him by his shirt collar.

He looked at his attacker. A brown-haired boy with some kind of pure white weapon at his throat.

An overwhelming feeling of nostalgia had washed over him at this point. He wasn't sure if it was the being attacked or the boy himself.

Wait.

No.

It was the boy.

He reached toward his neck instinctively.

crack

The weapon was gone.

"K-kakine...san?"

The grip loosened.

* * *

"I see. In any case, I'm sorry." he said.

It wasn't like the condolences given at a funeral.

It was the kind of guilty confession given by someone who believed they should be blamed.

"But," He sighed. "If you intend to kill me, I won't lay down and do nothing."

Kakine remained silent. He'd realized that in reality, it couldn't actually be Touma's fault and he'd been blinded by that town's 'myth'.

So he decided.

"Well, let's forget about all of that." He grinned rather sardonically. "Why don't you help me out with something?"

"...I'm sorry, what?"

* * *

"But, what could you possible want?" Touma sighed, tossing the clipboard on a table.

The building was more than decrepit, with a few useless lab reports and broken glass being the only proof that it was ever served a purpose. Now, it was more like a panic shelter, being mostly metal with few windows and quite a few food supplies.

Teitoku narrowed his eyes. "Well, it turns out that I need some… theoretical devices that neither of us could just get on our own. I've gotten stronger, but not strong enough."

Touma shrugged. "Then why don't you just ask for them? You're a level 4, not just some shady kid."

Teitoku sighed. "Be as that may, it seems I've been cast off in favor of someone else."

Touma raised an eyebrow, but then glanced disgustedly at the clipboard on the table. "You mean I've been studying Dark Matter physics for the past 3 years for basically no reason? I've gone to detention so many times because normal planes aren't lighter than paper."

Though, some adults would kill to research a power like that.

"It's got less to do with my research potential and more that… Suzuki Sekana could safely reach level 6 under the right conditions. They don't have any spare equipment when they're aiming for such a lofty goal."

"Then, what are you suggesting?" He felt like this was going somewhere bad. It was such a slight feeling though, so he stomped it down.

"Well, we're going to… coerce her into stopping?" Kakine offered a strange sort of smile.

"Oi, you're not suggesting that we-"

"-No, I'm not a scumbag, y'know?" He made a face like was appalled by a suggestion, but Touma knew the guy well enough that he was on the right path. "Well, I'd consider it if you didn't have such an… interesting power."

Touma groaned.

* * *

Mitsuari Ayu finished her story as he continued to reminisce.

"But why do you need to be a Level 5 so badly?"

There was nothing great about that level of power in his opinion. He'd stopped his constant interaction with Teitoku once he started his endless experiment hell, which, in his opinion, could have been a good or bad thing.

She shot a somewhat hostile sideways glare in his direction. "If you knew you could be a level 5 but weren't allowed to, how would you feel?"

He shook his head. "Such misfortune… I don't suppose I could convince you otherwise?" He grinned to himself sardonically, but shook his head. "Is your life truly so boring that you have nothing to do but try and increase your power level?"

She began to get defensive, but sighed. "My mental manipulation ability makes it hard to come across people who trust me, you know?" He blinked, and shrugged. It made sense, to be honest.

"Well, that's no good. Hey, how about this? Let's be friends, okay?" He wrote his phone number on a piece of paper and laid it on the ground.

But even as he said this, a white beetle appeared at the corner of his vision.

"That makes no sense. Just because others trust me doesn't mean that I'll just trust you blindly."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's up to you, I guess. But… What will really get better if you become a level 5?"

The beetle had given up and turned into of an avatar of its creator.

"Oi, Kamijou! There's trouble." Touma looked up quickly. He shot a sideways glance and a somewhat apologetic frown. But nevertheless, he still stood up.

Ayu, shocked by its sudden appearance, blinked twice when a beetle reappeared in its place.

And began to run, a beetle trailing behind him.

* * *

"So, what is it?" He said while still running.

"Ah, I conscripted the help of your girlfriend, you know? Turns out dead people are walking the streets."

"…"

Where would he start? Everything the level 5 just said was completely insane.

"...What?"

Perfect.

"Well, apparently there was some kind of… magician, she said? Yeah, some kind of magician displacing the energy in the city, waking up those buried underneath. Kreutzev-san said that it would be best to put the earth back to rest."

The beetle came to a stop, and Touma located the gaudily dressed, brown-haired boy.

"Hey, see that guy?" As the beetle flew off, Kakine pointed in the direction of an odd youth. He seemed to be dressed like a student, but he had an extraordinary amount of charms placed on him as if he was a religious man. "He gives off a strange feeling."

This wasn't a strange feeling in an emotional sense.

As an esper, Teitoku could detect AIM on a seriously basic level.

And this boy didn't give off purely AIM, yet emitted something else.

"Hey, you."

The boy was typically Japanese, with straight black hair, but eyes the color of dirt.

"Have you seen someone named Sherry Cromwell around here? If you have, could you tell her that Ellis is looking for her?"

And of course they hadn't. The boy, Ellis, sighed upon seeing their blank faces.

"No, but I have to ask you something." Teitoku smiled dangerously. "Could you go back to sleep?"

* * *

"Mi-chan?"

But that was impossible. Dolly had died some years ago because her lifespan could not be extended with current materials.

"D-Dolly, why-no, how are you here?"

"Mi-chan, where am I?"

Misaki froze, then knocked out her stunned roommate. Altering one of her bees' memories would take next to no effort, and this was simply more important.

"...This is my room. But, didn't they put you to rest?" She collapsed on the bed.

The girl had not been there at one moment, and then appeared in the gaps of her perception.

"...Don't quite understand." The clone made a fragment of a sentence. "But the earth is giving me energy… supporting me?" She tilted her head. "But, I just woke up here."

"I-is that so…?" She really shouldn't have made any emotional attachment to the clone. She was just a stand-in for some other girl, anyways.

A cursory scan through the other girl's mind showed that she really had no interaction between her death and her waking up here. She should get to the bottom of this, but…

"Hey, Dolly… If that's really you, I want to say I'm sorry."

"Mi...saki-chan," The level 5 gasped at this. "I'd known since the start." Misaki was shocked by this revelation, but found that she should have suspected. The clone was surprisingly perceptive, after all.

"Do you want anything? In case… you have to go?"

She imagined that whatever flight of science or magic had kept her alive, it wouldn't be that way forever. She should at least erase her regrets.

"I want you to meet Mi-chan… Kouzaku Mitori, my friend."

Misaki nodded, and they left without any prior warning.

Sasha, tracking the alterations in Telesma, allowed them to talk, if only for a while.

However, it would be in her best interests to eliminate the dead.

* * *

Touma ducked as the earth golem swung a hand at him.

"Tch. This 'magic stuff' doesn't make much sense…" The boy muttered.

Normally, he would tap the golem with his right hand to stop it, but the nature of it randomly appearing somewhere else made it hard for him to make a swing.

Rather, whenever he touched it, it seemed to be in a different place. Ellis, who rode the golem, seemed to move with it whenever it was displaced.

"...You can control light?" Teitoku eventually posed. Ellis blinked, and nodded slightly.

But then the golem multiplied, all of them slamming into the ground at the same time.

Only one crack appeared in the ground, though.

As this happened, the skin on Ellis' body seemed to redden, and blood seeped through his body like sweat, but the magic in the earth would keep him alive, for now.

"Why are you fighting? Did something happen during the experiment?"

It was quite innocent, really. As if he wasn't certain what happened himself. And perhaps in a sense the experiment he seemed to be talking about did succeed, but looking at the blood pouring off of him it must have been a failure.

"...What experiment?" Touma tried. The boy opened his mouth to speak, but shook his head, frowning.

Ellis raised his arm, and all of the golems stopped. "...If you don't know, I don't think I'm supposed to tell you. However, I will fight as long as you attack."

He lowered his arm, and Touma raised his hand to block yet another feint.

The entire thing was rather challenging, as Teitoku seemed to take a rather passive role, trying to make… binoculars? out of his Dark Matter. Generally, Touma had no idea what to dodge, as the golem strangely did not seem to follow the regular rules of physics, not making a sound or even vibrations when it moved.

And they just kept appearing. He relied on his intuition to dodge them, knowing that if he just guessed which one was a feint, it would definitely be wrong with his luck.

The fight, which occurred on the street, continued for quite a while.

Touma, dashing towards one golem, blinked when he saw it retreat. Considering how many feints he'd been dealing with, he supposed that if it was afraid of being hit, it would be the one retreating.

...But upon reaching it, he found that it was just another feint.

He yelped when he felt the ground crater behind him. Yet, the fist managed to not strike anywhere near him.

This was mainly because of the white web-like mass that pinned the golem in place. "...I've not tried to manipulate sight with Dark Matter, but it seems to have worked. Kamijou, finish this."

Careful to avoid the trap, he tapped the single tangible golem with his right hand.

With the sound of cracking glass, the boy fell off the golem and onto the ground. The area around them seemed to change into a field, but neither was fooled by the light control.

"Hey, hey." The boy laid down on the illusionary grass. "If you ever meet someone named Sherry Cromwell, please tell her it was fun."

He smiled as Touma kneeled next to him, raising his right arm. "We're friends, you see."

With the sound of something shattering, the body reverted to dust.

* * *

**The female level fives have initials as follows: (M.M.) (S.M.) (M.S.) Therefore the last one would have the initials (S.S.). This obviously isn't true.**

**Review if you've got the time.**


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